My Wife is a big Bon Jovi fan. I like them, but not as much as her. I don't know if anyone likes them as much as she does. I have been with her to see them many many times and usually enjoy myself very much. They put on a great concert and are a very tight band.
When Jon released his second solo album, Destination Anywhere, he did a small tour in support of the album/CD. For whatever reason. we were able to get tickets for the closest show near us. The show was at the Supper Club in New York. We drove in with a friend and saw, what to this day is probably my favorite Bon Jovi show, even though technically it was not a Bon Jovi show.
For this tour he had a backing band which consisted of Hugh MacDonald on Bass(current bass player with Bon Jovi), Bobby Bandiera on guitar(second guitarist with Bon Jovi/Asbury Jukes/many time Bruce Springsteen side man/and the list goes on), Jerry Cohen on keyboards, Shawn Pelton on drums(Sheryl Crow Drummer/John Eddie Drummer,SNL, etc...) and Everett Bradley on percussion(John Eddie, and everyone under the sun).
For the show, Jon focused primarily on his solo songs. He did throw in a few Bon Jovi songs and 2 covers as bookends.
I prefer Jon's solo albums to the band recordings, so right off the bat I knew I would probably love the show. All the songs sounded great, with the exception of Keep the Faith. This song came across as very sluggish with the absence of Tico Torres on the drums. August 7, 4:15 was not performed in it's album version, but was slowed down to be a ballad. Livin' on a Prayer was performed is the acoustic version that Bon Jovi had performed previously, most notably on the MTV Music awards and the Bon Jovi Christmas concerts at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank New Jersey. The rest of the songs were pretty faithful to the original versions, with enough room for some great soloing from Bobby and company.
This would also be the only time I would get to see any Jon's solo songs performed live, with the exception of Blaze of Glory which he does pretty regularly with Bon Jovi, and Blood Money which he does perform with Bon Jovi on occasion.
The show was well paced and I thought the set list was pretty strong. I liked the fact that the crowd was accepting of the band he picked, and did not gripe that he did not perform such standard Bon Jovi fare as Bad Medicine or You Give Love a Bad Name. I personally could do without seeing either of those songs ever again. One thing I've noticed when I've spoken with Bon Jovi fans or noticed while at one of their concerts, is that they tend to prefer the focus to be on only the 4 members of Bon Jovi: Jon, Richie, Tico, and David Bryan. Hugh is technically not a member of the band. Go figure. The fans would rather hear Bad Medicine or It's My Life, than a lesser known song like Hearts Breaking Even or Stick To Your Guns. So I was very happy to see a very positive reaction to the backing band and the songs he chose.
As far as the band goes, he picked a good group of musicians, that did not sound like Bon Jovi wannabes. I personally prefer Bobby Bandiera's style of guitar playing to Richie Sambora. I do think Richie is a great guitarist and a very good singer. I don't think Bobby is as fast as Richie, but I prefer his bluesier, crunchier style of playing. He gets more out of 5 notes, than most guitarists get out of 50.
I spotted Little Steven in the crowd and hoped he might join Jon onstage for a song, but that never materialized. But I cannot complain since I was treated to a great show in a small venue.
I always hope that Jon will once again work on a solo effort since I think his writing and music is a bit meatier when he sets out on his own.
Here is the set list.
Not Fade Away
Every Word Was a Piece of My Heart
Queen of New Orleans
Ugly
Midnight in Chelsea
Destination Anywhere
Blaze of Glory
Livin' on a Prayer-Acoustic version
August 7, 4:15
Billy Get Your Guns
Janie Don't You Take Your Love To Town
Naked
Keep the Faith
It's Just Me
Wanted Dead or Alive
Sleep When I'm Dead
Treat Her Right
Show length was 1 hour 45 minutes
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